Metro 2033 (the original, not the “redux” version)


Based on the novel with the same name, Metro 2033 has you taking the role of Artyom, a young metro dweller that will be forced to explore the skeleton of a nuclearly destroyed Moscow due to a series of unfortunate events in the attempt to protect its home. In my opinion. the better definition for Metro 2033 would be "modern first person shooter", and this already implies all its best and worst traits.

The game does in fact adopts all the current structural cliches and "compromises" to run on a console you can think of: Metro 2033 is in fact divided into very small and linear levels in which the map complexity is completely sacrificed for the sake of visual fidelity, narrative and to run "light" on Microsoft and Sony's dated hardware. Movements are also extremely slow (a running Artyom could easily be surpassed by a sneakily walking Duke Nukem), and the few interactions with merchants and characters (the non-scripted ones, I mean) are a worthless addition to the whole, something that gives me the feeling of being there mostly because it felt "necessary" to satisfy the usual AAA audience hunger for (apparent) diveristy rather than for a real choice by the developer.
In direct contrast with the Looking Glass Studios school -and even with the developer's own, since many members worked on S.T.A.L.K.E.R.- the story is not shown trough elements you can find while playing, but exclusively trough very frequent cut scenes where you will be just a passive spectator with no interaction power.
To make things worse, despite being perfectly playable the game does not run very well even on a rig far more powerful than recommended, especially when rendering the all-present layers of smoke and dust, and all the graphic options are locked under the "low, medium, high and ultra" labels unless you tamper with the configuration files -something not so easy to do, due to the very intrusive Steam client requiring you to change files both in the game folder and in its copy located in the Steam application one to actually see the effects, something that took a while for me to figure out.
I nearly forgot: the worst “consolization” point stays in the checkpoint saving system. I'm sure you can already draw your conclusions about it. At least, each small level can be autonomously reloaded.

Despite that, the game still has lots of strong points: first of all, it has atmosphere. The powerful graphic department creates a grim mood by playing with light and darkness in the devastated landscapes or in the run down tunnels, something further enhanced by the required use of the flashlight or the dark vision goggles in many places. The reduced field of view, the creepy noises (or, in many cases, the silence), the sound of your breath under the gas mask, the need to keep constantly in check the air filters and the power charge all add to the tension. Moreover, even on normal difficulty enemies should not be underestimated: while it's true that health regenerates without the need of medkits, it does so very slowly and just a few bullets are enough to kill you, pushing the player to adopt a careful approach to encounters and exploit the fairly well done though not very deep stealth elements.
Also, the shooting is as good as you can expect and can give plenty of satisfaction, even if sometimes the animation of a certain kind of monster does not respond very well to bullet impacts and you might be left unsure whether it died or not.
My last critique is that to experience the alternate ending (which I wouldn't have chose, anyway) you have to be “moral” and act like the ultimate selfless paladin each possible time, and I found a bit absurd that to take a simple, pragmatic choice in the end you needed to be a saint in completely unrelated minor situations.

Summarizing, Metro 2033 is plenty of faults and I wouldn't call it great, yet it is in my opinion worth the time for its solid narrative, great atmosphere and overall satisfying shooting and sneaking